There’s nothing more comfortable than the familiarity of knowing every face in the place. This is the connectedness, the belonging, that rural life can offer.
Whether it’s on a farm, acreage or in one of the many small Central Alberta communities like Eckville or Bentley, the ties that bind have often been social events such as weddings, guaranteed to bring the community together every time.
But rural life has changed. There may not be as much connectedness as there once was. People are busier than ever, once active community groups have fallen by the wayside and, with growth, there are more people coming and going.
But — thanks to crime — those looser ties are being gathered up again, pulling communities closer together.
The distances between residences, homes out of sight in a grove of trees, the many back roads in and out of an area, unlocked doors and vehicles, people away working, the time it takes police to respond — all this can make for easier targets for criminals.
Central Alberta rural residents — growing weary of break-ins, vehicles stolen or worse — are beginning to fight back in new ways, to protect their homes and property, or as one person puts it, “watching each other’s back.”
Statistics show that non-violent crime in many Central Alberta rural areas is on the rise. In some cases, so is violent crime.
Take the rural Sylvan Lake area, for an example. Statistics Canada’s Crime Severity Index (CSI) shows a marked increase in crime. (The index is standardized to 100 for all of Canada, so that anything above 100 is above normal crime, and vice versa.)
The area had an overall CSI in 2013 of 63.58, an increase of 24 per cent from the previous year. The violent crime severity index of 45 (2013), was up about 48 per cent from 2012; non-violent CSI was 70 in 2013, up about 20 per cent from 2012.
In one of the most alarming recent rural crimes, a woman and a man, with a gun and wearing a balaclava, walked into the Eckville Hotel’s bar in broad daylight on the quiet Sunday afternoon of Feb. 22 and proceeded to rob the place.
Sylvan Lake RCMP Sgt. Jeff McBeth said there were about nine staff and patrons in the bar.
“I guess crime happens whenever, right? We’re foolish to say it only happens when the sun goes down Fridays and Saturdays. But something such as this, where you’re armed with a firearm, doing the crime that they’re doing, it’s extremely dangerous.
“We’re grateful nobody got hurt, including the officers that responded to the scene that could potentially encounter these individuals.”
The two suspects arrived at the bar in separate vehicles that had been stolen days earlier from Red Deer.
“In a town like Eckville, which is a great little town in Alberta ... the area is beautiful out there, it’s quiet and everybody knows everybody and then something like this happens and it shakes them, and it makes them nervous and they shouldn’t be because we live in an extremely safe area, but unfortunately crimes like this do happen,” said McBeth.
Police have received a number of leads in the case but as of Thursday, no arrests had been made.
McBeth said the new Priority Crimes Task Force — made up of officers from Red Deer RCMP general investigative section, Sylvan Lake, Innisfail and Blackfalds RCMP detachments, and supported by Lacombe Police Service, is helping a lot.
The task force aims at more inter-agency communication and intelligence sharing, and has a strong focus on prolific property crimes offenders. “We’re grateful for it,” said McBeth, noting some of its recent arrests.
Fortunately, rural crime in the area is relatively low on the violence scale, he said.
“In my opinion, I would rather have a property crime than a persons crime ... if your home’s got to get broken into, which is terrible ... I’d rather it happen when I’m not there than have a home invasion when I am home.
“We’re not seeing that. We’re seeing the break and enters — sad — but we’re seeing the break and enters where property is taken and vehicles are stolen. The hard part for us is to solve the crime at the time. It’s like a needle in a haystack — a member has to be at the right place at the right time and observe the right things to solve it at the time.”
There’s a renewed effort for people to help the police — and themselves.
Jean Bota, a Red Deer county councillor who lives east of Red Deer has had a years-long passion for fighting rural crime.
She is using social media to fight the battle.
Gathering up email addresses for instant alert messages to others, and creating a special Facebook page to alert neighbours and people living in her area, have proved successful, she said.
Recently someone in the area had a vintage car stolen from a locked building. The information was fanned out via the Facebook page. Thanks to the quick notice, the vehicle was recovered later the same day.
Bota has also become involved in helping to organize a number of well-attended rural community meetings, with speakers talking about crime prevention.
“The face of crime has changed. What has worked maybe in the past is not working anymore. Let’s see what we can do differently as opposed to just ignoring it and hoping it goes way,” Bota said.
“I feel ... (crime) is escalating. The task force, great stuff. I’ve got nothing bad to say (about policing). They have been out there doing their due diligence. ... But what’s also coming from some of the communities is a lot of apathy.
“In essence, this is all about connecting as communities ... empowering communities. Instead of becoming consumers, we have to become citizens.”
Bota was recently asked to help set up a rural crime meeting in the Shady Nook area. Since then, meetings have been held in Lynn Valley and other places, and they are filling the halls.
Willowdale, just southeast of Red Deer, had a crime meeting on a very cold, blustery night. They put out 50 chairs, then had to put out another 20.
Growing up on a farm west of Red Deer, Bota said she knew what “community” was all about —but things have changed. “We have passed off our responsibilities, not intentionally, for everything. We assume the police are looking after this, and someone else is looking after that.
“We’ve given our power away so now it’s time to take it back and become communities again.
“I am seeing people reconnecting,” Bota said.
She and other local county council representatives have met with Alberta’s Justice minister to express their concerns about rural crime. She is also involved with a petition being prepared about Canada’s justice system, which, once ready, will be presented to Red Deer MP Earl Dreeshen.
Lacombe County Coun. Ken Wigmore is helping organize a meeting in the Gull Lake area to gauge community interest in establishing a rural crime watch program.
It will be similar to the meetings Bota has attended and helped organize. Wigmore said Blackfalds and Rimbey RCMP, a representative from Red Deer/Lacombe Rural Crime Watch (aka Maskepetoon Community Crime Watch Association), Citizens on Patrol, and a security company from Red Deer will attend.
They want to inform people about what’s going on, what can be done and what their role could be, said Wigmore. He emphasizes that citizens aren’t to be taking the law into their own hands.
One of the prevalent rural crimes seems to be staking out a home and once the crooks are sure no one is home, coming in with a truck and trailer to clean it out, said Wigmore.
While many rural residents don’t have next-door neighbours, “That doesn’t mean we can’t watch each other’s back.
“There’s lots of things we can do to educate ourselves to help our neighbours. And it’s getting to know our neighbours.”
The Gull Lake meeting is Monday at 7 p.m. at the Gull Lake Hall.
Crime prevention speakers will also be at the Crossroads Rural Crime Watch annual meeting on March 18 at 8 p.m. at the Crossroads Ag Park at Pine Lake.
It’s probably a good idea to make sure there are plenty of chairs set out.
barr@www.reddeeradvocate.com